~ ACFW Colorado's Blog for Writers

The "Great Romance"

I’m not a romance writer. But almost everything I’ve written has a slight touch of romance in it. I do read romance. I’m not against it. (VBG) The books I like most to read have a light romance thread in them. Which is why I love Jane Austen’s books, especially the romance between Elizabeth and Darcy in Pride and Prejudice.

Even in my nonfiction pieces, I’ve noticed that I touch on what Ted Dekker calls the “Great Romance”—God’s love for mankind as seen in Christ’s death and resurrection. As Christian writers, I’m not sure how we can avoid romance, whether spiritual, emotional, or physical.

I’ve long wanted to be a writer, since before I copied out, longhand, my favorite Nancy Drew book when I was in sixth grade. (Can you imagine the relief I felt when I learned that Benjamin Franklin copied word for word his favorite authors as his method of learning to write? LOL Copying that Nancy Drew book wasn’t plagiarism after all!) Daydreaming, and the stories I made up then, added to my desire to find true love for all my heroines. The more I read and studied literature, the more I studied Scripture, the more I understood the universal theme of love.

This “Great Romance” is detailed in God’s love letter to us, the Bible. In the Old Testament God likens His love for Israel to that of a husband for his wife. And the most beautiful picture of His unconditional love is found in Hosea, where the prophet was a living example of God’s love. In the New Testament we read of Christ’s coming to earth to save His people from their sin. Not just the Jews, but also the Gentiles. Christ’s sacrificial death culminating in His resurrection is the supreme example of a man laying down His life for a friend. So when I think of romance, I can’t help but think of the greatest romance of all—that of God’s love for us.

And then I see it coming out in the stories I write. Immersing myself in the Word of God has slowly added the dimension of love into every area of my life. Believe me, there’s still lots of room for improvement in me as I won’t attain that perfection until I’m with Christ in heaven. But that’s the goal I strive for—reflecting Christ, reflecting His love as well as His other attributes to believers and unbelievers alike.

Marjorie Vawter is a freelance editor and writer, working out of her home in Westminster, Colorado. A love for God’s Word and the riches it contains is a primary theme in her life. And it’s the theme of this year’s ACFW Colorado retreat April 23–24. (See the Events page on this website.) Margie is married and has two adult children. And one new baby kitty, Sinatra.

Great post, Margie. And you even mentioned one of my favorite Bible stories…only made better with Francine Rivers' fictionalized version of it in Redeeming Love. Ahhh….to know that no matter what we do or how far we stray, we are NEVER beyond the reach of God's love.THAT is romance at its best! Thanks!